Race Information

• Name: Dublin Marathon
• Date: October 29, 2023
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Dublin, Ireland
• Time: 3:49:XX

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Sub 3:40	No
B	Sub 3:50	Yes
C	Sub 4:00	Yes
D	Finish	Yes

5 km Splits

5 Kilometer	Time
5	26:14
10	25:40
15	25:40
20	26:17
25	26:23
30	26:48
35	28:06
40	29:10

Background

I (M, 37) picked up running in May of 2020 when Covid was in full swing. A friend organised a virtual 5 km “race” between our group of friends (ran a 23:43). I got fixated on running a sub-20 and slowly worked my way there making mistakes and learning on the way until I ran a 19:57 in June of last year. A week later my daughter was born. Running took a back-seat but the marathon had been on my mind and I was pretty much as fit as I’d ever been so I was kind of thinking it was now or never. With my wife’s buy-in I entered the lottery in November and got a place.

Training

I hadn’t been running regularly since I became a father but I never completely stopped; always out once or twice a week. At the beginning of June I started a base building plan to get me up to 40 km a week before kicking off the 18 week plan; very sensible plus 10% a week.

The week before the marathon plan kicked off the first of the series of DCM warm-up races kicked off and I ran a 36:XX at the Corkagh 5 mile.

From then on I essentially followed a modified version of the Hal Higdon Intermediate 2 plan.

Two weeks in and I picked up a TFL injury that took two weeks to shake. Skipped the Fingal 10 k warm-up race as a result.

Week 7 I got sick so no long run.

Week 8 ran the Frank Duffy 10 mile in 1:17:XX. Was happy with this as I had just gotten over the cold I had.

Week 10 had to pare back due to feeling ITBS in my left knee coming on but physio sorted it. I made the decision at this point that I was going to drop all of the Marathon pace work as my body just wasn’t holding up.

Weeks 11 - 14 went great; I got all the long runs in, including two 32.2 km (20-milers); everything at easy pace which for me is about 6:05 min / km.

Week 13: Ran the Dublin Half-Marthon in 1:38:XX and felt amazing.

Week 15: Day after my second 32.2 km run I went to the hospital with chest pains and a temperature. After various tests etc. I got told my heart was fine and I most likely have some viral infection affecting lung linings (pleurisy). Immediate thoughts after being told I’m not having a heart attack are about the marathon; can I still do it?. Consultant advises he doesn’t see a reason I can’t as long as I recover properly and stop if I feel pain.

So another complete missed week followed.

Work my way up slowly the next week to run a 22 km long run on the Sunday and all feels good.

The two taper weeks I essentially did very little running; got out 3 times. If you think phantom taper niggles are bad in your legs (which I had too) they’re way worse in your chest! So I just didn’t want to deal with it and rested; the work is supposed to be in your legs at that point anyway.

5 km shake-out run two days before the marathon and my body and mind feel like they are going to let me do this thing.

TL;DR My training did not go to plan at all. I didn’t get to do the mileage (I only averaged 32~ km a week and never beat the peak I hit during my 5 k training) or the intensity that I wanted (very little MP work). Despite this my half time was telling me I was in shape (pre-pleurisy) to hit 3:40~.

Pre-race

Nerves were quite bad the few days leading up to the race but managed to sleep pretty well. Carb loaded for the 3 days before and got well hydrated. Took a gel 5 minutes before the start and planned to take one every 5 km as well as grabbing water & Lucozade whenever it was available.

Lined up behind the 3:40 pacer in the starting coral and decided I was going to give it a shot.

Race

First few km’s a little quick but I was never really gaining on the pacers so was happy enough it was where I wanted to be effort wise.

Got to the half in 1:52 which is ~14 minutes slower than the half I ran 5 weeks ago and it felt like it took more effort. As I mentioned I was quite nervous in the last few days leading up to the race so potentially that wasted energy and maybe I’m not fully over the whole pleurisy thing but just didn’t feel as sharp.

What was weird about the halfway mark was a lot of people seemed to slow and use the toilets and walk to the drinks table and I got caught up in a kind of stupor until my watch beeped to say I’d just run a 5:31 for km 22 so I had to wake myself up and remind myself that I had to run to my planned pace and not get sucked into what others are doing. I picked it up and then potentially overcompensated; next few km’s were where my heart rate was highest for the race. I backed it off reminding myself that the real half-way point is at mile 20.

Had friends waiting for me in Bushy Park (mile 17), my wife and daughter were in Milltown (mile 19) and my parents were at the bottom of Foster’s avenue (mile 22). Having people to run to definitely help a lot but generally the support was amazing; going to have to give it back next year!

So anyway, the drag up Clonskeagh (starts about mile 21); it’s real and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. This was where the first thoughts of stopping to walk for a bit entered my head (I don’t think there’s anything wrong with walking as ultimately it’s about covering the distance as fast as you can but I really wanted to run the whole thing). Just kept putting one foot in front of another. I was running by the kerb and the lift you got when someone would cheer you on using your name that they’ve read off your bib was so powerful!

The run down Foster’s Avenue was a nice relief and I looked fresh to my parents I guess. Somewhere after crossing the UCD flyover and turning down Nutley Lane (mile 23.5) the heavens opened. Definitely made it even more of a slog. The km’s went by so slowly; I tried to distract myself but I couldn’t get my brain out of the present moment. The urge to walk was very strong but I just kept telling myself it’ll just take longer if you do and I’m very proud that I kept running.

Nothing left for a sprint but I got my arms in the air for 3:49:XX.

Gave it everything; got the sub 3:50 (I actually had no idea how close I was; stopped looking at (comprehending?) my watch with 5 or 6 km to go) and the sub 4:00.

Post-race

Thought I’d be more emotional but I think potentially I was too tired. Got my medal, into some dry clothes and home as quickly as I could.

I’m glad I gave 3:40 a shot but it probably wasn’t on given the lack of MP work and the relatively low mileage.

I really enjoyed my first proper races in the build-up so I think I’m going to focus on the shorter distances for a while; have a 10 k PB that needs to be sorted!

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.